Breakout and retest analysis: was it real?
Most breakouts fail. The ones that work tend to share a pattern: a clean, well-tested level, a decisive break, and a retest that holds. Skip any piece and you're often buying the top of a fakeout.
The Breakout & Retest lens checks each step on your chart and tells you which ones are there, which are missing, and the level that would prove the breakout wrong.
The 6 rules your chart is graded on
Weights add up to 100. Each rule passes or fails with a one-line reason, and code converts the points to an A–F grade.
A well-defined horizontal level with multiple touches.
A strong candle closed through the level.
Price came back to test the broken level.
The retest held (rejection wick, higher low / lower high).
Volume was higher on the break than on the retest.
There's room to the next level in the breakout direction.
What it marks on your chart
- Key level
Horizontal level with multiple touches.
- Breakout candle
Decisive close through the level.
- Retest
Price returned to the level.
- Hold / rejection
Rejection at the retest.
Old ceiling, new floor
When a level breaks, it often flips roles: old resistance becomes support. The retest is the market checking that flip. A retest that holds confirms it; one that fails often turns into a fake-out.
Who it's for: Traders who want confirmation before trusting a breakout.
Questions
What if the retest hasn't happened yet?
That rule fails for now, and the breakdown says what a successful retest would look like so you know what to watch.
How does it spot a fakeout?
It checks whether price closed back inside the range after the break. A quick reclaim of the level is the classic fakeout sign.
Learn the concepts
A liquidity sweep happens when price pushes just beyond an obvious swing high or low, where many stop orders sit, and then quickly reverses back inside.
Support is an area where buying has stepped in before, slowing or reversing declines.
A breakout and retest is a three-step sequence: price breaks through a well-defined level, comes back to test it from the other side, and holds.
Try the Breakout & Retest lens on your chart
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